Vincent Okamoto

Vincent Okamoto (22 November 1943-) was a US Army Rangers captain during the Vietnam War.

Biography
Vincent Okamoto was born in Poston, Arizona in 1943, the youngest of ten children born to a Japanese immigrant family which was interned during World War II. Six of his brothers fought in World War II, and he decided to follow in their footsteps by serving in the US Army Rangers during the Vietnam War. In 1968, near Cu Chi, he gave his rations to some Vietnamese villagers in exchange for rice, a food which he used to have every day at home. One of his comrades told him that he was eating poor people's food, but Okamoto told him that they had enough rice to feed twelve people; it was then that Okamoto grew suspicious. Sure enough, his squad found a foxhole, and Okamoto threw in a grenade, which ultimately killed six hiding Viet Cong fighters. In August, he fought at Tay Ninh during the Phase III Offensive. In 1970, he was discharged with the rank of Captain, the highest-decorated Japanese-American to serve in the war. He spent five years as a prosecutor and eight practicing law privately, and, in 2002, Governor Gray Davis of California appointed him to the Los Angeles Superior Court bench.